


I Can See My Future

by QueenOfNewOrleans22



Series: The Silent Cries [19]
Category: Guns N' Roses
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mild Fluff, Past Abuse, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNewOrleans22/pseuds/QueenOfNewOrleans22
Summary: There's talking, and there's feeling.
Relationships: Duff McKagan/Slash
Series: The Silent Cries [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823191
Kudos: 6





	I Can See My Future

Duff was a simultaneous gentle giant and formidable force, a man who could switch being benevolent and terrifying in two seconds. Slash had never been on the receiving side of the terrifying personality- they'd argued, yes, but it'd always been in a calm and controlled place and setting. Now, Duff looked remarkably calm, all things considered. It was almost impressive, all things considered. Meanwhile, Slash could feel his hands shaking from his sudden anger. It came at him like a tidal wave, fierce and powerful, and it came in a second. Not gradual, not slow, just...there, silent.

"If anything happens, just know that I will not hesitate to do something that I won't regret." Duff was looking straight into Axl's eyes, his hands folded like he was about to make the deal of a lifetime. 

They were in a hotel room. Slash was drinking to calm his nerves, and wondering if his guitar had survived the flight alright. Luckily, he hadn't brought one of the animals, otherwise he'd be worried sick. The alcohol burned its way down his throat, and opened a fiery hole in his chest that made him feel something else, at least, besides this constant anger that had surfaced for the first time in so many years. It was overwhelming, but Slash forced himself to stay still. He wanted to interject and say _something_ but waited patiently for his turn. 

Duff sighed, and moved his jaw around, as if saying something in his mind and juggling it around. "I'm not going to ask you about what you did and why you did it, but I just want you to know that I will not tolerate it in the slightest. If you so much as raised a hand to either one of us, we're out. Understand?" It wasn't a question. Axl had stayed remarkably silent through it all, just nodding, and Slash entertained himself with the possibility of Izzy having flown out there previously and drugged him. 

Slash downed the last of his drink and closed his eyes, taking a deep breathe and prepared himself. It felt like the world depended on this single moment, a second of time that went past so quick. Underneath the table, Duff squeezed his hand. 

It felt like hope. 

"Axl, I'm not saying that I'm forgetting, or forgiving, or any of that stupid nicety shit, 'kay? But let's put it behind us, and make fucking music. I don't want any association with you besides that. We are bandmates. Nothing more. We make music, that's it, and at the end of the day, I don't want anything more to do with you." Slash was only aware of how angry he sounded until the last words fell and sat in the empty air. He swallowed thickly. "I'm not gonna lie- I hate you, and I don't even really know why I'm, _we're,_ doing this, besides the money, but let's just...ignore it." Slash always felt so small when he talked about it. For a man who always wanted to be larger than life, he had never quite achieved it. 

Axl nodded. "Alright. I just- it won't happen ever again. I swear. It doesn't condone what I did back then, guys, but you can trust that it won't happen again, nothing." 

It was all in vain. Slash grit his teeth and shook his head, not wanting to talk anymore. He pushed back his chair, sending it clattering back onto the wood, and walked away, opening the door but standing in the threshold, waiting. He was angry, but he'd never been good at expressing it, and so he just stood there. 

Duff leaned foward, face blank, but eyes purposeful. "If you do a single fucking thing, Axl, they won't find you." 

It was said like a joke, but it wasn't, not really. Duff would do it in a goddamn heartbeat, and he didn't care if that made him a bad person or not. 

They left. 

\----

That night, sleep didn't come easily. 

"He won't do anything." Duff said as he flicked through the channels on the television. Slash knew that he wouldn't, but old fears died hard, and so instead of dwelling on his fear, and the memories, he grabbed Duff by the arm and dragged him down towards the bed. Duff felt willingly, even eagerly. 

"Let's forget." Slash said. 

Duff nodded, and smiled in that gentle way of his. Slash loved him more than anything else in this world, and hoped that Duff knew it. 


End file.
